


Take It Slow

by rhea_tam



Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms, The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Drama, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Smut, F/M, Love/Hate, Negan Being an Asshole, Non-Linear Narrative, Reader-Insert, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-06
Updated: 2016-11-06
Packaged: 2018-08-29 08:08:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8481943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhea_tam/pseuds/rhea_tam
Summary: The first time you had met Negan was during a hunt. From there, it was all history.





	1. Stranger Things

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a little drabble I wrote. Right now, I still plan on continuing it, but hopefully you all like it!

Your eyes watched as the walker fell dead. Arm holding your compound bow in position, you slowly relaxed and let your arms fall to your side. This was your third walker of the day, and you were still searching for breakfast. You were on the verge of giving up when you saw it. A rabbit had emerged from the shrubbery, and your eyes immediately trained on its small gray form. It was perfect.

You immediately pulled an arrow from the quiver on your hip, knocking it on the string before hooking the string to your release. Pulling the string back into place, you were just about to let it fly when it happened. A twig snapped, and you felt an hand grip your forearm. Your finger knocked into the release, and you watched your arrow lodge itself into the tree closest to the rabbit. 

"I was about to ge--" you began to exclaim only to stop short when you noticed there was a large group to your right. 

"What's a pretty girl like you doing with a nice bow like that?" The man looked disgusting, his greasy blonde hair barely covering his mangled face. However, you were focused on the man behind him. You didn't know whether to be more weary of the man himself or of the baseball bat he carried over his shoulder. 

Your lips pursed as you scanned the group of men, inwardly cursing yourself for your carelessness. You shouldn't have been out in the open like this, and now you were paying for your mistake. 

The blonde man's face shifted from amused to annoyed, and his grip on your arm tightened. "I asked you a question, girl." 

"If you would kindly remove your hand, I would really appreciate it," you stated in response, all the while gauging his reaction. 

His face darkened, and he pulled you into him, a snarl marring his face. "You'd better answer my question, smart ass," he hissed lowly. The man with the bat looked amused and it appeared as if he was going to make his way towards the two of you. However, before he could move, your free arm shot out, your fist making contact with the unblemished side of the man's face. The second he let go of your arm, you jumped back in attempts to get as far from the group as possible.

"You little bitch!" he roared, but he was cut off from continuing when a laugh cut through the tension. 

The man with the bat had broken out in a chuckle, shaking his head as he stared in your direction. "Dwight, I cannot believe you let someone deck you in the face like that. I knew you were stupid, but I never you were this fucking stupid." He continued to shake his head before his dark eyes were trained on you. "I take complete responsibility for Dwight's stupidity. My name is Negan, and I'm the leader of this fine group of people. They call us the Saviors."

You held the man's gaze, simply raising an eyebrow in response. 

A cacophonous laugh rang in the air. "You know, I haven't seen someone as feisty as you in ages."

He began to make his way towards you, and you felt your hands begin to sweat. You could feel your heart lodge itself in your throat, yet you held your ground. There was no way you were going to show these strangers you were scared, especially not when they could beat you and leave you for dead. Negan was taller than you thought. You only reached his red bandana.

You were pulled from your observations when his hand gripped your chin, forcing you to look up at him. "Know what I haven't seen in an even longer time?" he asked, his eyes gleaming in a way that caused your heart to creep up your throat even further. "Someone stupid enough to attack one of my men in front of me."

This had been a mistake, but it was too late now. There was no way you were backing down now. "I don't take kindly to people ruining my shot," you replied, effectively hiding the terror that you felt.

Negan grinned at you wolfishly, "So you can shoot that thing, doll?" Before you had the chance to respond, he pulled you even closer. His breath was tickling your face, and you felt yourself going nearly cross-eyed as you attempted to continue holding his gaze. "We should play a game."

"A game?" you asked slowly, wondering if you had heard him correctly. 

He nodded, his grin slowly forming into a smirk. "Yes, doll. A game. Don't tell me you're stupid. That really cuts into your attractiveness," he drawled, his dark eyes boring into your own. 

Your eyes narrowed defiantly, and your grip on your bow tightened. "What's the game, Negan?" Your voice was barely a whisper at this point. This group may kill you.

You could tell you fell into a trap when Negan's eyes lit up, seemingly excited that you took the bait. "Well, normally I would beat the holy hell out of you with Lucille here," he stated, motioning to the bat wrapped in barb wire, "but I'm feeling mighty generous today. So here's the deal. If you manage to take down one of those biters beyond the tree line out in one go, you win. And if you lose, then Dwight here," he motioned to the greasy blonde, "gets to do whatever he wants to you since I think it's a damn shame to mess up a face as nice as yours." He winked at you, and you felt your stomach drop. 

A walker or your life. You could do that, right?

"What do you say, doll? Gonna take the deal?" he asked arrogantly. 

Your gaze never left his as you nodded slowly. Negan simply chuckled and let go of your chin, stepping away to give you some space. "All right. You know what you need to go, doll." 

Taking a breath, you turned away from Negan and his men and surveyed the land. You could hear the walker's groans and reasoned that some were within shooting distance. The chuckles behind you immediately caused you to square your shoulders. They thought you couldn't do it; you were going to make them swallow those laughs.

Knocking your arrow onto your string, you hooked your release onto the string once more below pulling your arrow back. The sight was off to the side, but this was second nature to you at this point. This was how you survived. Focusing on the silhouette of the makeshift army of walkers in the distance, you pulled your arrow, stopping when the string grazed your cheek. The release was quick. Everyone watched as the arrow took flight, shooting through the air in an arc before lodging itself in a walker's right eye. A "thud" resounded through the air as the corpse fell to the ground, and a wave of relief crashed into you. You were safe. 

Silence overtook the group behind you. The chuckles that had once erupted from them had ended. Instead, you heard the crunching of twigs before a large hand landed on your right shoulder, and it almost caused you to drop your bow. "Well I'll be damned. You did it, doll," he breathed out in a chuckle. 

After nudging his arm off your shoulder, you turned around to face him, gazing up at his face. You noted that when he smiled, he was somewhat attractive. Perhaps it was the rugged figure, or maybe it was his salt and pepper beard. But there were more pressing matters to address. "So, now what?" 

Negan broke out into a laugh, and you stood there confused once again. "Well doll, if you have no other group, you're more than welcome to come with us."

Once you allowed the words to sink in, you cracked a small smile. "I would appreciate that, Negan."

"Glad you accepted, doll." Negan chuckled before turning around and ordering his men back to their trucks. 

He didn't notice you hadn't moved until you called out to him. "What is it, doll? Don't want to ride with us?"

You shook your head before walking towards him, stopping when you reached his side. "Just so you know, my name's not 'doll.' It's Indy," you replied before continuing to walk towards the trucks. You decided not to wait for his response just in case it turned out to be negative. 

Instead, a booming laugh broke out in the forest, and it nearly caused you to trip. "I think I like you already," he countered to your retreating back. Your smile grew a little bigger, and you responded with a small laugh of your own. 

You may grow to like the Saviors yet.


	2. Running Out of Breath

Hours seemed to have passed before the group reached the compound. You were beginning to nod off and found your head resting on Negan's shoulder. When your eyes cracked open and you sleepily sat up, you caught his eye. He was grinning at you wolfishly. “We’ve made it to the Sanctuary. Sleep well, doll?" 

Still somewhat groggy, you didn't catch the sarcasm. Instead, you simply nodded, giving him a small smile. "Yup. Thanks." He seemed surprised by your genuine response, likely expecting a retort or zinger. But in all honesty, you were just happy to have a group again. It had been ages since you had been separated from your family. You had been on your own. Your life had been purely based on survival, and it left you exhausted. When the truck stopped, you wearily exited the truck, eyes anxiously roaming the unfamiliar faces. It wasn’t until a hand gripped your wrist that came back to reality. “Sorry,” you muttered.

Negan didn’t respond. Instead, he pulled you through the masses, not batting an eye when they all fell to their knees as he walked past. Where in the world were you? Who the hell was Negan anyway? “More than a leader, you seem to be their Messiah,” you muttered lowly, hoping not to draw even more attention to yourself. It was a difficult feat since this man decided to oh-so-kindly drag you through the compound. It was as if Negan wanted everyone to see you in this state. What the hell was he planning?

You followed him wordlessly up the stairs and through the corridors, trying to keep yourself from falling flat on your face. His strides were too long. After the fifth time your feet almost came out from under you, you planted them firmly on the ground and yanked back, trying to free your wrist from his grasp. 

Negan immediately rounded on you, his imposing figure making you feel as if you were a child about to be scolded. “What the fuck, princess? What’s with the fucking attitude?” he asked, clearly annoyed with you. The hand clamped around your wrist tightened, and you nearly winced.

Your eyes met his dark ones, and nervously chewed on your bottom lip. You had to say something before you completely lost your nerve. “It’s not an attitude. You were just walking way too fast,” you responded, cheeks flushing with embarrassment. It wasn’t your fault you were short, but it was always a sore subject to bring up.

Negan’s brow furrowed, and you began to prepare for the worst. He was going to explode. Maybe he would just drag you to where he wanted to take you. What you didn’t expect is for a smile to replace his irritated expression, a chuckle making it past his lips. Soon, a full-blown laugh boomed through the hallway. Normally, you would feel annoyed at the fact that your height was the butt of the joke, but you were too busy focusing on the man. “He looks a lot better when he’s not mad,” you thought. 

It wasn’t until he abruptly stopped laughing that you realized you had thought aloud. His eyes were completely trained on you, yet this time you wouldn’t let the embarrassment that was curling in your stomach take over. Instead, you shrugged your shoulders and shot him a quick wink. “So, where are you taking me, Negan?” Your only hope was that he wouldn’t take your bow. It was all you had left.

Negan simply smirked before nodding his head to the room at the end of the hall. “Over there, doll. Think you can keep up?” 

You nodded, trailing behind once again. Thankfully Negan had slowed his pace down to a brisk walk. This you could handle. Once you both reached the end of the hall, he threw open the door before pushing you inside, watching as you momentarily tensed up before entering the dark room right behind you. “Scared of the dark, _Indy_?” Of course the actual time he would use your name was when he was mocking you.

Not wanting to give him the satisfaction, you ventured further into the room until you no longer felt his presence behind you. In a way, it unnerved you. Even though you couldn’t hear any groaning or shuffling, what if there was a walker in the room? What if this was all a trap? You felt your heartbeat began to speed up, but before you broke out in a sweat, Negan turned on the lights. Once the light flooded the room, you realized this wasn’t a trap. It was a study. The desk to the far side of the room was littered with papers and blueprints, and the fireplace in the corner reminded you of the one you had at your old home. However, it was the bookshelf closest to the window that caught your eye. It had been quite some time since you had been in a room like this, and an even longer time since you had read a book. But that wasn’t why you were here. It was for that reason that you painfully tore your eyes away from the bookshelf and looked over to Negan, who currently held a bundle of cloth in his right hand. “Huh?” Of course this would be your question instead of a witty one-liner. Good job. 

He barked out a laugh, and your eyes narrow in annoyance. This must be so hilarious for him. So you decided to try again. “What are those?” you asked, nodding to the cloth in his hand.

Shaking his head, he smirked down at you. “Well, doll, these are clothes. I was going to offer you a shower and some clean clothes, but it seems like you’d rather just stay in those clothes that have clearly seen better days,” he retorted, his smirk growing with each word. 

Negan was so damn infuriating, yet for some reason you couldn’t help but feel reeled in. The man was just too charismatic, and it was starting to hit you. “Well,” he started, knocking you out of your daze, “I guess you’d rather just continue our conversation like th—“

“Wait!” you exclaimed, cutting him off as you ran towards him, grabbing his hand and the clothes before he rescinded the offer. “Wait, sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.”

His figure loomed over yours, yet you didn’t feel scared. The real nightmares loomed outside the Sanctuary. Negan was a survivor, just like you. “Okay, doll. I’ll let it slide just this once. Just don’t make this a habit.” 

You nodded and took the clothes, hugging them to your chest and looking up at him expectantly. “The shower?”

Negan’s smirk returned tenfold, and you felt the expectant look on your face slip into one of slight annoyance. “The door right there,” he answered, nodding a door over on the right. You didn’t wait and immediately scurried over to the door, closing it behind you. The fact that the door didn’t have a lock was a little unsettling, but you didn’t let it phase you. It could have been worse. Instead, you quickly stripped yourself of your clothing, ecstatic at the idea that you were finally going to have a shower with running water. Stepping into the shower, you quickly turned on the water, letting out an involuntary yelp when the freezing cold water hit your skin. You showered as quickly as possible, not wanting to annoy Negan. Clearly he was more important here than you had first imagined.

Stepping out of the shower, your eyes slightly widened when you saw that your bow, your arrows, and your clothes were missing. Instead, a grey towel lay adjacent the clothes Negan had given you. Panic rushed through your body and you jumped out of the shower, ignoring the towel and change of clothes as you ran out of the bathroom and into Negan’s study. Bursting through the door, your eyes caught Negan’s form over by his desk and you immediately made your way towards him. “Oh doll, I didn’t think you would get naked for me already,” he teased.

You slammed your hands onto his desk, your body trembling anxiously. “My compound bow,” you hissed, your brain too bogged down by panic to formulate other words.

Negan’s once playful expression was replaced with an irritated one. “Really? I let you take a fucking shower, give you a towel and some clothes, and you come out here, buck-fuckin’-naked, whining about your little bow?” he seethed, his eyes trained on your face.

The comment brought you back to reality, and you felt yourself deflate a little. He was right. He had been nothing but kind to you, and here you are acting like a banshee. “Sorry,” you groaned, pulling your hands away from his desk. “I just don’t remember the last time I had been without it,” you continued. “I should be thanking you for all this, yet here I am, acting like a maniac.”

His expression hadn’t changed, but his eyes softened by just a fraction. “I get it. You don’t know us, and you don’t trust us. I get it, but we’re not the type to harm unarmed women, especially not when they have a body as nice as yours, doll,” he responded with a wink. 

That’s when it hit you.

You were completely naked.

Scratch that, you were completely naked _and_ in front of Negan. He could see everything. You were an idiot. Eyes completely wide, you sprinted back to the bathroom to grab the discarded towel and the change of clothes, trying to block out Negan’s laugh that reverberated through the room.

Once you dried off and changed into the clothes, you slowly exited the room, trying your hardest not to look at Negan. “Well, this is a bit embarrassing,” you state quietly. 

Negan chuckled once again, your bow and quiver in his hand. “Here are your things, doll,” he responded, holding them out for you. 

You nod and grab them, letting out a quick thanks as you held them close to your sides. “So, why am I here, Negan?” you ask, ready to know why he had brought you here. Why he had been so nice to you in the first place.

His face gave nothing away, but the smirk had returned. “All business, I see. I can respect that,” he said with a shrug. “The reason I brought you here is because I want you to be my wife, sweetheart.”


End file.
